Sound producing mechanism



Nov. 20, 1962 J. H. LEMELSON 3,054,389

SOUND PRODUCING MECHANISM Filed April 11, 1960 32b l2rd INVENTOR. Jerome HLemelson United States Patent Office 3,664,389 Patented Nov. 20, 1962 3,064,389 SOUND PRODUCING NIECHANISM Jerome H. Lernelson, 8B Garfield Park Homes, Metuchen, NJ. Filed Apr. 11, 1961), Ser. No. 21,537 2 Claims. (Cl. 46-192) This invention relates to a toy noise making device and is a continuation-in-part of my co-pending application entitled Action Toys, Serial No. 794,486 and filed on January 26, 1959, now Patent No. 2,962,837. Serial No. 794,486 was in turn a division of parent application Serial No. 392,186, filed on November 13, 1953, now Patent No. 2,885,824.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a new and improved noise making device applicable to toys and the like which may be used to create a variety of difierent sounds and sound efiects.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved noise making device for use in toys which is simple in structure and easy to operate.

Another object is to provide a noise making device having means for driving an inertia wheel which has a plurality of closely spaced projections or serration around its peripheral surface which may be used to create a plurality of different sound effects which may simulate sounds normally found in nature or artificially produced by man such as animal sounds, sounds produced by the human voice, whistling sounds, and the like.

Another object is to provide an improved sound producing device which may be applicable to toy guns for producing a sound simulating a whining or n'cocheting bullet.

With the above and such other objects in view, as may hereinafter more fully appear, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein are shown embodiments of this invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view with parts broken away for clarity of a noisemaking device made in accordance with the teachings of this invention,

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 illustrates a sound producing device 10 comprising in assembly with a housing 12 containing the sound producing mechanism, a rotatable assembly 14 of what will be hereafter referred to as a sounding wheel 16 and a shaft 18 extending through the lateral axis of the wheel and supporting it. The shaft 18 is illustrated as being supported in bearing by the side wall 12d of the housing 12 and a projection 120 from end wall 12b, Both wheel and shaft may comprise an assembly of components or may be integral with each other as a single casting, molding or machined piece. The wheel portion'16 is preferably of sufiicient diameter and weight such that it will serve essentially as an inertia wheel and will remain spinning for some time after it is set in motion. The wheel is essentially disc shaped and the peripheral surface 17 thereof is provided with a multiplicity of closely spaced teeth or projections 17'. Riding against the serrated projections 17' is a cantilevered vibrating member or reed 20. The reed 29 is secured at one end to a wall 12a of the housing by means of fastening means 21, which may be a rivet or screw.

As the Wheel 16 rotates, the peripheral serrations or projections 17 therein cause the reed 20 to vibrate, which vibration is imparted to the base or wall 12a of the housing which may vibrate therewith and serve as an amplifier for the produced sound. The greater the speed at which the wheel is rotated, the higher the pitch of the sound. A suitable method for imparting sufiicient rotational energy to the wheel to effect the production of a variety of different sounds, the exact nature of which will depend upon the dimensions and spacing of the projections on the surf-ace of the wheel, is to utilize the released potential energy stored in a spring to effect said rotation. In FIG. 1, an elongated coil spring 19 is employed with a rack and pinion drive 26 to rotate the wheel. The rack consists of an arm 28 which is supported in sliding bearing in slotted holes 32a and 32b in the front and rear end walls 12a and 12b of the housing and has gear teeth 30 provided along a substantial portion of the edge of said member 28 which teeth are adapted to ride in and effect the rotation of a pinion wheel or small circular gear 34 which is either integrally formed on the shaft 18 of the wheel assembly or is secured thereto by conventional means. It is noted that the shaft, pinion and wheel may be integrally molded as a single unit. The rack member 28 is an elongated molding or stamping having a gripping portion 28 which is adapted to be urged in a direction away from the rear wall 12b of the housing against the restoring action of the coil spring 19 which is anchored at one end by engaging in a hole 12h in the front wall 12a of the housing and is secured at its other end to the rack member 28 in a manner to normally urge the rack member a sufiicicnt degree towards said front wall such that the rack or toothed portion 30 of 28 completely clears the pinion wheel. As a result, after the rack has been urged forward by the action of the spring in returning to its normal, non-tensioned condition, the sounding wheel 16 will continue to rotate thereby continuing to vibrate the reed member and effecting the production of a sound for a period'of time after the driving mechanism has stopped operating, The notation H refers to a hole thru 28 for securing 28 to another member or mechanism for urging movement and/ or locking the arm 28 in a cocked position.

The projections 17' may be of any suitable shape and spacing to produce the desired sound effect. In one form they may be designed to produce a whistling or whining sound simulating, for example, the sound produced when a bullet ricochets. In other forms they may be designed to produce sounds heard in nature such as animal sounds or artificially produced sounds such as the sound of a siren, machinery, gears in motion or the like.

It is noted that the noise making device 10 of FIG. 1 may be applied to various types of toys in different ways. For example, the rack member 28 may be directly grasped or secured to another member for simplifying its movement in conditioning it to effect, upon release, the described operation of the wheel. It may be connected to a flexible cord which extends through the wall of a toy which operates said mechanism upon being pulled While the toy is held and released thereafter. The rack member 28 may also be pinned, slidably engaged with, or otherwise operatively connected to a mechanism for urging its movement in the direction of the rear wall of the housing.

If the noise making assembly 10 is to be utilized in a toy gun, the rack member may be operatively connected to the trigger mechanism through linkages or the like for urging movement of the rack member when the trigger is cocked or released.

I am aware that my invention may be varied and modified without departing from the spirit thereof and accordingly I do not seek to be limited by the specific disclosures herein described except as set forth in the appended claims. "For example, the spring operated rack and pinion drive of the sounding wheel may be operated by other spring urged means, the combination of the reed and free wheeling inertia wheel being novel per se.

I claim:

1. A noise making device for toys and the like which:

comprises;

(a) a sounding wheel, (b) a mount for said sounding wheel including a rotational support for said wheel, 7 said sounding wheel having a multiplicity of fine projections formed around its peripheral surface, -(d) a wheel actuator and drive mechanism operat-ively connected to said sounding wheel and adapted to cause said sounding wheel to rotate at high speed, (e) means for rapidly moving said actuating mechanism to effect acceleration of the sounding wheel, and (f) a cantilevered sound-producing vibratable spring member having a free end which contacts the fine projections of said sounding wheel and a fixed end which is attached to a sound amplifying means, (g) said wheel actuator and drive mechanism being operatively engaged with said sounding wheel in such a fashion that after said sounding wheel has been caused to rotate rapidly by said wheel actuator and drive mechanism, said wheel actuator and drive mechanism will become essentially disengaged from said sounding wheel for a short interval of time,

whereby said sounding wheel will be permitted to.

rotate under inertial wheeling conditions for a short interval of time. 2. A noise making device for toys and the like which comprises:

(a) a sounding wheel,

member having a free end which contacts the fine projections of said sounding wheel and a fixed end which is attached to a sound amplifying means,

(g) said actuator mechanism including a toothed spur gear provided on the same rotational support as said sounding wheel and a gear member having at least one projection thereon which is engageable with the teeth of said toothed gear whereby said gear member moves longitudinally and tangentially with respect to said toothed spur gear.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEQ -STA- TES PATENTS 518,316 Grove .a Apr. 17, 1894 1,272,353 Appell July 16, 1916 1,43 6,855 'Bregman Nov. 28, 1922 2,925,685 Blankenship Feb. 23, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,948 Germany -i 1881] 268,646 Great Britain Apr. 7, 192 7 7 

